Elizabeth
Woodville, "The White Queen" has been portrayed in novels and legends
as a romantic figure. In reality, her 15th Century life was far from a
fairy-tale. She may have married for love but as England's Queen she
faced danger and betrayal.
Elizabeth Woodville was born around 1437 at Grafton Regis, Northamptonshire. Her mother had been married to a son of Henry IV but after he died, the wealthy widow controversially became the wife of her social inferior, the knight Richard Woodville. Elizabeth was the eldest of their 14 children. She married, aged about 15, and soon after the country erupted in civil war. Known as the "Wars of the Roses" or "Cousins' War," this pitched the "red" Lancastrians against the "white" Yorkists in a struggle for the throne.
The Beautiful Widow: Ancestor of the Tudors and the Stuarts
• She was the great-great-grandmother of Mary Queen of Scots whose son became James VI of Scotland and I of England uniting the two crowns
Elizabeth's first husband, the
Lancastrian Sir John Grey, was killed at the Battle of St Albans. Now
his enemy Edward IV sat on the throne. Early in 1464, Elizabeth appealed
to him for help after her husband's lands were confiscated as an enemy
of the "white" regime. Legend has it that Elizabeth entranced Edward
with her beauty, after lying in wait for him beneath an oak tree in
Whittlebury Forest. In reality, the meeting may have been more mundane;
they had probably met before, as the Woodvilles had been prominent at
court under the Lancastrian Henry VI.
Her beauty, described by historian Thomas Penn as "cold" and
"lynx-eyed," drew the Yorkist king's attention. The 16th Century writer
Thomas More, wrote that he was "enamoured" of her and described "much
wooing and many great promises." Yet Elizabeth was not content to become
just another royal conquest. Out of piety or ambition, she refused to
become Edward's mistress, but his passion for her spurred him to make a
surprising proposal of marriage. Marriage to the King
For Elizabeth, the offer of a crown was irresistible. It meant her two young sons, parents and siblings would be well provided for. Hers was a whirlwind courtship but she would have been a fool not to accept what Edward could offer. The marriage was conducted in secret, as the last union of a King with a commoner had taken place in 1066. Edward knew it would prove unpopular because he would be expected to marry a foreign princess and secure alliances for the Yorkist regime. The ceremony was conducted in the late spring of 1464, at Elizabeth's parental home. A "red" Lancastrian by birth she was now part of the "white" Yorkist family and England's Queen, yet Edward delayed announcing the marriage for five months.Elizabeth Woodville key facts
- Born around 1437 in Northamptonshire
- Married young to the Lancastrian Sir John Grey. He died at the Battle of St. Albans in 1461
- Married to the Yorkist King Edward IV in 1464. She bore him 10 children
- After Edward's death, his brother Richard III seized the throne and imprisoned her two sons in the Tower
When the alliance was finally
made public, that September, Edward's family and most of England's
nobility were outraged by his choice. According to Thomas More, the
Queen Mother was "sore moved" by the news and chided her son for
marrying "out of his realm." While none could deny the bride's personal
charms or piety, her large family was widely disliked for its ambition.
Parliament did not hold back, telling the King that the 27-year-old
Lancastrian widow was "no match" for him. Yet Edward stood firm and
Elizabeth's formal presentation to Parliament was marked by respectful
ceremony.
Elizabeth would go on to bear Edward 10 children. Their
eldest son and heir arrived in dramatic circumstances, amid fresh
outbreaks of civil war. She was eight months pregnant when the King was
forced into exile abroad, following a Lancastrian coup to return Henry
VI to the throne in 1470. In the middle of the night, Elizabeth fled to
sanctuary at Westminster Abbey. Far from her accustomed luxury at court,
she gave birth in poverty and uncertainty. Her son was born safely and
named after his father. Fortunately, Edward returned at the head of an avenging army in 1471 and the next 12 years were comparatively peaceful. The marriage was a happy one, although the Queen had to turn a blind eye to her husband's affairs and Edward's most famous mistress, Jane Shore, was present on many court occasions.
Princes in the Tower
Elizabeth Woodville's sons where imprisoned in the Tower of London by their uncle Richard III. They were never seen again.
Elizabeth and her daughters
returned to their Westminster sanctuary. Forced to accept the situation,
the dowager Queen had little choice but to hope for better days, until
an old Lancastrian ally, Margaret Beaufort, proposed a marriage between
her own son, the exiled Henry Tudor and Elizabeth's eldest daughter,
Elizabeth of York. Following the disappearance of her brothers,
Elizabeth of York could claim to be the legitimate heir. She became
Tudor's wife and the first Queen of that dynasty after Henry had
defeated her uncle Richard III at Bosworth Field in 1485.
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